Torchwood: Dead Memories
by james.a
Summary: Set before Children of Earth. Jack, Gwen, and Ianto have just got over the deaths of their former team mates. But old memories are coming back, and they're not alone.
1. Chapter 1: Morning

**Chapter 1**

The large iron cog moved out of the doorway. Sirens blared out and lights flashed. He was the first one here. He knew he was.

He moved over to his station. He was given a computer in the main room when.....a couple were made available. Checking his email, he was reminded that life is pretty boring outside his job.

Recommendations from Amazon (more kitchen appliances). His sister, asking if he wanted to go to lunch (for the hundredth time since he moved back to Cardiff). All just the mundane that would probably turn him insane if he quit. If he was allowed to quit.

Switching to his office email, things were a bit different. Latest statistics from Archie in Glasgow, email notification from eBay (he'd been outbid on a Balgsorixan Dream Device, again), little notes from the Boss (mainly about his arse). This was normal for Ianto, and he liked it.

One of the other screens bleeped and he looked over. Gwen had left her apartment and was exactly 20 minutes away from walking in through the car park door. Ianto moved over to his old station.

It was his favorite thing, his coffee machine. It never talked back, it never changed, it never disappeared. All it did was dispense hot java that made everyone happy. That was all he wanted to do. Make people happy.

He made sure it was exactly right, and she walked in just as he was steaming the milk.

She slammed the side door leading to the underground car-park, sighed as loudly as she could and glanced round to see that Ianto was there, before going to check her email. Just as she finished loggin in, Ianto set her coffee down and she smiled at him. It was the smile that always bugged him.

It was the kind of smile that said, 'Aw, really grateful, but I was expecting it". But he was used to it, so he carried on. She started her small talk. Same questions everyday, even though everything was exactly the same.

"Jack not in?"

"Is that a new suit?"

"What kind of coffee is this? It's fantastic?"

Ianto just guessed it was her hoping for something different. Ever since.....(oh just say it man) Tosh and Owen died, it was just the three of them. Small talk was to be expected, especially since the rift seemed to have quieted down a bit. Maybe it just took some time to cool off since Abbadon.

Ianto sat with his coffee on the sofa, checking through the morning newspapers.

They'd had a free weekend so Gwen would have a tale to tell, her usual Monday morning tale. Last week it was 'Gwen and Rhys' Great Ikea Adventure'. And the week before that 'Liverpool: The Williams Weekend Break'.

"Rhys' mother was over this weekend" Gwen began after she was done on the computer. Ianto murmured in interest. "Wanted to know why I wasn't taking Rhys' last name. Had to get the post out to prove to her I was only using Cooper for work."

Ianto chuckled. Gwen smiled. "Then she turns round and asks when we were planning to have kids. I mean first of all, to me at least, thats a very personal question. I don't even know if I want to have kids, what with this job and all."

Ianto said "True" to point out his agreement. Torchwood was not for kids. First of all theres all the guns and murderous aliens. Secondly, Ianto didn't want to convert the greenhouse into a crèche.

"Should Jack not be here by now?" Gwen asked "I wouldn't normally ask, but it's nearly half 10."

Ianto silently agreed. Jack had been spending more nights out recently, but he usually came in about 9.45am and called a team meeting to go over things, before going on to his daily tasks.

"I'll see if I can get the signal on his wrist-strap, find out where he is. You know just to make sure he isn't at the bottom of a canal" Gwen said, beginning to type at her console. Ianto neatly folded the newspapers on the coffee table.

He'd cut out any 'interesting' articles and left them on Jacks desk. Then he picked up his and Gwen's dry mugs, took them over to this station under the stairs, and loaded them into the dishwasher.

Back when the whole team was there, Owen kept using Gwen's mugs just to spite her so she labelled them in big marker pens, 'Gwen's Mugs'. This of course only led to Owen spouting jokes of "a bit more milk in Gwen's mugs".

"Is that you that's making my wrist beep, I didn't know you could do that." came a cool American voice from the back of the Hub.

"Jack! There you are, we were starting to worry" Gwen called out. Ianto raised his eyebrows.

"Ah, you know there never any need to worry about me, unless it National Topless Day and there's sailors in town. Then we'll be testing if my invincibility can hold off STDs"

Gwen laughed and rolled her eyes. Ianto coughed lightly as if to remind Jack he was there, and of their current status, to which neither really wanted to put a phrase to.

Jack walked out from the back corridors and moved swiftly to his office, not looking at the rest of his team, as his face was hidden while he took off his coat. Gwen had printed off all the local sightings from the internet and Ianto already had Jack's coffee ready. They both looked at each other guessing that Jack wanted to have the morning meeting in his office today.

They both walked in and saw that he wasn't there. Gwen turned around looking at the rest of the Hub, but Ianto walked in. The lid was off Jack's room, and he looked down in. Jack was at the small sink staring into the mirror. "Jack?" Ianto said curiously.

Captain Jack Harkness turned around, and looked up out of the hole and smiled at Ianto as if the left side of his face wasn't missing.

* * *

Chapter 1 for you there. Hope the cliffhanger has the desired effect. Chapter 2 available now.


	2. Chapter 2: Remembering

**Chapter 2**

Jack chuckled "You look cute when you're shocked."

Ianto turned around "Yeah, it just gets even more creepy when you're staring at me.". Jack looked back at the mirror.

"I was trying to wink at you." he said.

"Yeah, that usually only works when you have an eyelid over the eye. You coming back up soon. As it turns out we actually may have something interesting."

Gwen walked back in just as Jack climbed out of the hole. "Oh, shit!" she exclaimed, suddenly turning on the spot and covering her mouth. "Please tell me thats not staying long, cause I seriously won't be able to look at you till it's healed."

Jack smiled "Should be gone in a few minutes. If you check the cells we have a new tenant. No baggage, just the usual boiler suit and teeth. Caught me as I was pulling him in. Am I missing some teeth too." His tongue waggled around his jaw, occasionally poking out when it should have hit his cheek.

"Only several" said Ianto walking out with his pile of notes. Jack laughed and followed behind.

"You coming?" Jack asked Gwen.

"In a minute, need to send this down to the boardroom.". She said walking away, still not looking at him. Jack walked down towards the boardroom.

His face stung as the breeze hit it while he was striding. His teeth would probably be back by the time he got to the room. His cheek was nearly done.

Suddenly, he received a hard pain in his eye, his left eye. He fell over in shock, grabbing the wall. His 'ability' had been able to stop it from drying up, but if it had failed all of a sudden.... Could he be free from his never ending life? He blinked, and blinked again.

It was just his eyelid, growing back. Jack laughed at his own stupidity, getting up, and felt a sting as he remembered he would live forever.

"Why can't I cut one of them up?"

Jack swung round. The corridor was empty. "Gwen?" No, it wasn't her voice. Wasn't Ianto's either. But he knew who's it was.

"I'll be just another second! Making myself another cup of coffee" Gwen shouted down.

"No need!" Ianto called back. He walked out from one of the other corridors with a tray on wheels, with three steaming cups on top.

"Did you put another machine down here?" Jack smiled.

"Maybe. Are you alright? Thought I heard you stumbling."

"Just my eyelid, catching me by surprise" Jack said. Ianto shook his head and continued down to the boardroom. Jack looked back down the corridor and joined Ianto in shaking his head.

Very soon, Gwen joined them in the boardroom. She didn't want to ask what they were talking about when their conversation about "gag reflex" ended abruptly. But she was confused as it wasn't usual for Jack to be shy about his and Ianto's "relations".

Jack's face had completely healed, for which she was glad. She lifted the small remote for the screen and clicked it. "As Jack's new capture proves, theres been an increase in Weevils, especially in sightings. I know we can't contain it anymore than we are already, but we need a cover story."

Jack was looking at the screen. There were blogs, some pictures and even some videos. "Practical joke? Something from the Internet encouraging them to scare people? Just pin it on Anonymous."

"Fair enough" Gwen said, looking at her notes. She clicked the remote again and the screen changed to show a set of graphs. "We've also had an increase in rift activity, but it's not as static as usual."

Everyone could see. The graph showed that the rift would spike, but stay at the same frequency for a while, sometimes up to 2 minuets.

Jack spun his chair round, "Put a mark on so we get notified of anymore discrepancies like this. Ianto, you've been very quiet, unlike sometimes."

Ianto coughed that away, pretending he didn't hear. "Newspapers are reporting some ghost activity around the Blaidd Drwg and Penarth Pier."

"Ok, looks like we've got a trip to the seaside. Gwen you come with me. Ianto, you keep an eye on the rift reading and see if you can find out if its connected to the Weevil increase."

Gwen and Ianto nodded, and went to move out. "One more thing" Jack said.

The two sat back down and looked at Jack. "I know we all don't talk about it anymore. But it's been 9 months. Are you two doing ok?"

Gwen sighed. She knew they would have to go over it eventually. "I dreamed about them a while ago. It wasn't like a mission or just around the Hub. We were all out together. Took a trip to the cinema and went to the bar." She sighed again, blinking back tears as she looked at the ceiling. "One of the nicest dreams I've ever had.

"But they were together. The two of them. Like we all knew they should have been"

Jack nodded. If he was honest (which he rarely was), he had to stop his own eyes from going red. He looked over at Ianto.

He was just staring at the floor. Jack knew his tears would already be on the ground.

"Sorry" Jack finally said after they had all sat in silent thought for a while. "I just wanted to make sure you two were alright and...it's like I've only made it worse."

Gwen looked at him. She reached out and held his hand. "Nothing can make it worse. Nothing. And we think about them all the time. It's probably helped to get all this out of our system. And doing it in front of each other is only healthier."

Ianto nodded, still staring at the floor.

"Ok, then." Jack said quietly. "Lets get back to work".

* * *

So here's chapter 2. Sorry for the sad part, but wanted to get it out of the way. Chapter 3 avaliable now.


	3. Chapter 3: Fireman's Lift

**Chapter 3**

Gwen and Jack stayed quiet during the drive. They entered the Butetown Tunnel as they headed towards Penarth Pier. As they entered Llandough, Gwen finally broke the silence.

"What exactly are we going to be looking for down here. You don't think its another one of those ghost machines do you?" She said looking at him.

"No." Jack thought, "They only worked on a one to one scale. This is something random people are hearing, some sightings according to Ianto's reports."

Gwen nodded at this and turned to look out the window. "So we just going to do the usual rift checks? Ask around?"

"Pretty much."

"Ok then. You want to take below, I'll take above"

"Sure." Jack agreed. "Remind me to fit a stereo in here so we can fill in the awkward silences"

Gwen couldn't help but laugh at this. That was another of Jack's talents. He could always find a way to make you smile. You could be standing in front of a Weevil, or even a Dalek, and Jack could still probably say something that would have you fighting a smirk for 20 minutes.

They parked up along the Esplanade. Jack smiled at Gwen as he walked down the beach and under the pier. She watched him go and walked inside the pavilion. Very soon she was again on the other side.

"Nice angle" came a voice. She looked down and chuckled.

"Not your best, I'm afraid, Jack"

"That's why I'm usually on top. Just ask Ia...."

"That's enough, thank you very much." She said trying to block out the image as much as she could, but it lingered longer than she would like to say. Mainly because it wasn't Ianto he was on top of in her mind's eye. Jack laughed at her and headed back towards the pavilion with his rift device.

Gwen kept walking further along, keeping her eyes open for anything strange, occasionally looking at her own rift device. It was freezing cold, and occasionally gusts caught the back of her legs, but that was normal out by the seaside. In this weather, at this time of year.

"Ha ha ha, Stop! Put me down!" said a voice, trying to gasp through giggling.

Gwen looked at the other people on the pier. Couple of old guys with pipes, couldn't have been them. A young couple out on a date, but they were sitting on the benches, eating chips.

She knew that voice though, but she didn't know anyone out here.

"Find anything?" said Jack, suddenly by her side

"No..."Gwen said, still looking around.

"Something wrong?" Jack asked, puzzled but also concerned.

"Did Tosh ever come down here?" Gwen asked, suddenly focused on Jack.

"Think she came down here with Tommy that time. Why?" Jack asked, wondering where she was going with this.

"It's just I thought...." Gwen paused, glancing around again. "You know what never mind, probably just with thinking about them again."

"Did you hear Tosh's voice?" Jack asked, throwing her of guard. She looked at his eyes. He was being so sincere and so worried.

"Yes" Gwen said trembling a little. Eyes welling up again.

"Come on, lets go back to the Hub." Jack said holding her hand.

* * *

Personally I'm not happy with this one. Hope I can do better in future. Chapter 4 still to be written.

Check my twitter /james_angus to find out when its being done.


	4. Chapter 4: Shadow

**Chapter 4**

Ianto was alone again. He once asked Jack why he always went with Gwen on 'missions'. He said it was just in case . But that stung Ianto and he didn't believe it. Did that mean Jack cared for Ianto more? Losing Gwen wouldn't hurt Jack as much as losing him?

Ianto knew that Jack would be with Gwen if he could. Ianto was second place, something that he would never hear, but knew. He'd gotten in deep. Too deep. It scared him.

Ianto had only ever felt this close to Lisa. It confused him how he moved on so simply, and also because Jack was a guy. Did that make him gay? Or was he bi? He didn't look at women anymore.

He didn't look at other men either though. Maybe it was just Jack.

Ianto thought of how he was so fun, so exciting, and so caring and couldn't help but smile to himself. He just loved him. The sex didn't matter.

The monitor gave a beep. It made Ianto jump, not just because it was sudden but because it was so high and kept going on for so long. Ianto walked over to the computer from where he was lying on the sofa (SoDoKu page 82 completed).

He turned off the loud continuous beep. The rift activity monitor had picked up another spike, if you could call it that. It just kept on going. No movement at all. High or low, the rift monitor would move about a bit. But it was a completely straight line.

------------

Jack pushed the button on his key that would unlock the car. Just as the lights stopped flashing to tell them it had unlocked, there was a huge bang.

They felt the shake. Gwen had fallen on the bonnet of the SUV and Jack had automatically jumped. He'd closed his eyes so he went head first into the wing mirror, and fell to the ground unconscious. Gwen managed to look round. Her hearing had gone. But she couldn't see any kind of explosion. All around everyone was reacting to it.

People were on the ground, only some getting up now ( Please god, just be unconscious Gwen said to herself). The pier had snapped, clean in half. The far side was now falling towards the beach on its side. Gwen finally managed to focus on the far side of the beach. Two massive legs stretched out of the water. Gwen kept looking up and finally breaking through the crowds, it was him. He had returned. Abbadon was back.

* * *

Dun, dun Duuuuunnn. Oh god thats so bad. But its for a reason. It'll all make sense. Also gives me a reason to mention one of my favorite villains. He may even make an appearance later on. Bilis!!! But Abbadon is not there BECAUSE of Bilis!

Also sorry this took so long. Took me ages to be satisfied with that Ianto bit from the start. But why isn't he hearing voices?? You'll find out later. Please subscribe.

Theres gonna be a lot of returning characters/monsters/villians, if you would like to suggest one for me, please tweet it to me james_angus


	5. Chapter 5: Still

**Chapter 5**

And then he was gone.

There was no explosion, no sound of any kind. He just disappeared.

Well, thats just annoying Gwen looked at the place where Abbadon was. She looked left and right at the crowds, taking steps back.

She ran back to the car, she didn't realise how far she has stumbled from it whenever the 'explosion' happened. She saw Jack still lying on the ground. "How did it get him?" She thought aloud.

"It didn't" He said, before jumping up in one swing. "Just got knocked out by my own stupidity."

"Thought you didn't have any of that." Gwen replied, smiling just because Jack was alright.

"Guys, it happened again, big this time." Ianto said down the comms.

- - - - - - - - -

Back in the Hub, Ianto was running between all the monitors. Data readings for the spike. Police calls for some sort of explosion and a giant creature. Radar picking up something in the bay. Microwave pizza ready.

"How long?" Jack asked

"About 30 seconds, this time. The longest yet." Ianto replied, still running from computer to computer, to microwave.

"Why do you sound like you're out of breath?" Jack asked

Ianto stopped. "We still need to hire some new staff. All the computers going off was a lot easier to handle whenever Owen was here." He could hear Jack both grimace and smile through the phone.

"Remember what happened last time I left you two in there on your own?"

"Yeah, I shot him and he brought on the end of the world"

Gwen thought now was probably a good time to butt-in. "It was Abbadon."

* * *

Jack looked at her. Suddenly serious. "You had better not be talking about today"

Gwen just nodded. Scared like a child, afraid to say anything else. Scared of what would happen to Jack if he had to face Abbadon a second time.

Ianto came back on the comms, "That's very probable actually, there a lot of police reports coming in, saying about a giant creature that looked weirdly familiar."

Jack sighed, "Ok well, I was unconscious and Ianto's in the plaza, 30 feet underground. Gwen, what happened?"

Gwen went through everything that had happened. The explosion, the shell shock, seeing Abbadon and then him disappearing.

"...and then you got up and Ianto called."

Jack looked around. The people weren't running screaming, weren't even running. They just seemed confused. Then he formed the plan in his head.

"Ianto, put out a story saying there was a small explosion at the Blaidd Drewg. Small escape of gases, bit of a hallucination and completely harmless. Make a special part about how just completely harmless it is. Gwen, you go talk to the owner of that shop tell him the same story. I'm gonna check out the spot where he appeared. Where exactly was it?" Jack said spinning, coat flowing flawlessly behind him.

Gwen was thinking about how she was going to talk to the shop owner, so this question shook her. "Oh, umm. Just about 20 feet in from the end of the pier....which is now gone. Ok make that 45 feet."

"Done, meet me back here in about 20 minutes."

* * *

Ianto had already started typing. He could have been a journalist. He pretty much was, given the amount of stories he'd written of over the years.

"It took my lover, and my Captain!" *Gunfire*.

Ianto swerved round as soon as he heard the voice.

"Owen?" he said out loud.

He was scared. It was obvious. Sweat rolled from his head after just a few seconds. He'd glanced all around the Hub, trying to figure out where the noise came from. He'd looked everywhere except....

As Ianto started to look down into the Autopsy Room, he knew there would be something there. His eyes started welling up. There he was.

"Owen", Ianto whispered. Crying now, he fell to his knees.

The image of Owen had looked serious, haunting. But suddenly his face reacted when Ianto fell. The eyes almost instantly went puffy and red, and wet spots appearing in the corners.

"Owen..." Ianto panted. He didn't look away, he dared not look away. He knew if he even blinked then this vision would disappear.

Owen was stifling sobs now, trying desperately not to react. But then it was like something hit him, from behind, right on the back of the head. He fell over. Down, where he couldn't be seen.

Ianto sank with his head in his hands. After, just a couple of seconds, he started to clean himself up. _Going crazy. Can't go crazy. It's just with thinking of them. I'm having a breakdown. This isn't right. Jack can't know. Neither of them can. Got to get back to work._

Ianto got up, he looked at where Owen had been. Then he turned away and started typing again.

The scream came from the Autopsy Room. There was no denying that.

"Oh why can't I just bloody DIE?!?!"

* * *

Yeah sorry about how long it took. Was stuck in a class with my laptop, nothing was happening so I wrote this.

Ok, so what do you think about Owen being back??

I do have some sort of plan, I'm not completely making this up as I go along.

You may have noticed as well. Yes, I have deleted the prolouge. It's because it set the whole story off in a complete other direction and I just didn't know where to take it. But I know what I'm doing now.

Ok, so if you guys can do me a huge favour. I've been doing videos on youtube, once a week for about 2 months now. If you wanna check it out its /jangoharkness (please rate, comment and subscribe) and go ahead and add me on twitter /jangoharkness and dailybooth if you have it /jangoharkness

Thanks very much, it would be great if you added me on those things. Then I can get in contact with you guys. Thanks for reading. Back soon.


	6. Chapter 6: Break

**Chapter 6**

"Well why are you talking to me? Tell those people!"

"We just thought it would be easier speaking to someone who will see most of the people, than going around."

"And you're sure there's no danger from this gas?"

Gwen sighed, "Yes, I'm very sure Mr Greesh. I live in the bay area as well, so I'd be worried as much as...." _Oh shit, Rhys!_

The thought had hit her full on. She had just forgotten about Rhys completely. She tried to do that as often as possible, but when ever something hit public, he was always the first civilian to know.

"I've got kids you know! If anything happens, never mind the whole place, I'm coming after you. Have you got kids?" Mr Greesh said to Gwen, knocking her back into the real world.

Gwen had to stop herself as she almost laughed. "No, no. Not in....no."

"Yeah, well maybe you should get some, then you'll see how much this scares us all. The real people."

"Ok, well, if you have no more questions, Mr Geesh, I'll be on my way."

Gwen walked out, annoyed. How dare he suggest she doesn't get scared by stuff like this. Sure if anything ever happened she could just search it up or make one phone call and be all in the know. There was no such thing as conspiracies. Torchwood knew all the background stuff.

She walked back over to the sea wall and rested on it, facing out into the bay. She could see Jack under the water. Wouldn't look like anything to other people, but if you knew what it was, that grey/blue blob is the indestructible man. The unstoppable force.

_He mentioned kids. He asked if I had any. How could I have kids in this job? I'd have to be in an ultrasound one minuet and shooting Weevils the next. Does Torchwood do a maternity leave? How could I see stuff going on and not be able to do anything about it? They couldn't bring in a temp. No such thing in this company._

"Nothing." Jack said. Gwen literally jumped on top of the wall. Was the world of your own nice?

"Nah, bit cramped to be honest." Gwen said getting down.

Jack was soaking wet, the long greatcoat dripping, shirt see-thorugh, hair flat, boots squishy.

"Could you not have taken some of that off before going in?"

"Once I start stripping, I'm not sure if I can stop." Jack grinned, ignoring Gwen's rolling eyes, "Checked for everything, rift, radiation, gaydar. Nothing. Maybe our cover story is true."

"I suppose that would be easier, than trying to find out why a previously vanquished god of death appeared in the bay for 30 seconds."

"Very much so...."

Jack tailed off as he looked up the wall. Gwen looked too and gasped. About 50 feet away from them, slumped up against the wall, broken arm, bleeding from the torso, looking exactly as she did when she died.

Toshiko Sato turned her head and looked at them. Directly at them. And then she faded.

Jack kept staring at the spot that she filled, Gwen looking to him for help. "Don't think it's going to be the easy option", he said.

* * *

That was a short one, and I did kinda do it very quickly after the last one. Trying to put some more stuff into this.

Probably be another one very soon.

/jangoharkness

/jangoharkness

/jangoharkness


	7. Chapter 7: Java

Ianto was helping Owen up from the floor. "You've got to be bloody kidding me" Ianto kept repeating.

"Kidding YOU? I'm a living corpse, AGAIN! I'm mean I know it said permanent position but this is getting ridiculous."

Owen was back again. There was no denying. Ianto could touch him, smell him. He could definitely see him.

"Stay here and I'll get you some clothes" Ianto said rolling his eyes. They had managed to climb up to the main area, and Owen sat on the sofa.

"Jesus, you've got cold hands". Owen said. Then almost slapstick, they both froze. Owen and Ianto looked at each other.

"You've got cold hands", Owen repeated, realizing it's meaning. This floor is freezing!

"You can feel."

"I can bloody feel!" Owen jumped up bumping into Ianto. Owen chuckled hugging Ianto, then remembered he has no clothes on.

"I'll go get...those...clothes" Ianto walked off nervously. Owen couldn't help but laugh at the awkward situation.

When Ianto got back, Owen was no where to be seen. Ianto checked the medical room, Jack's office. He was walking toward the stairs to go check the hothouse when he spotted Owen in the coffee station looking in the cupboard.

"There you are. Got you some sweats." Owen stood up, Ianto blushed.

"Whats wrong, only OK if your boyfriend walks around starkers?" Owen chuckled, taking the clothes. "Wheres my mug, by the way? Would love a coffee."

"It's kinda been put into storage"

"Well how longs it been?"

"9 months"

"Jesus. So where is everyone? Jack, Gwen,.....Tosh?"

"Umm, oh shit!" Ianto had completely forgotten about Jack and Gwen. He pressed his ear piece while making Owen's coffee. "Jack, bit of a situation"

* * *

Hey guys. There's another new chapter up just after this. Screwed it up a bit last time, turns out you can't add links.

If you're on YouTube, Twitter or Dailybooth. Just search for JangoHarkness to find me :) 3


	8. Chapter 8: Still Wet

"Yeah well I've got a bit of a situation too! Something appeared the bay, then just disappeared" Simon Gray said down the phone.

It had been a long day. Stubbed his toe on the way to the bathroom, missed his train for college, when he eventually got there it turned out all his classes were canceled for the day, caught sight of a giant demon in the bay, his mother called.

"Whats wrong with you then? Having trouble now you've moved out? Lucky bastard, if I could have moved out at 19......" Simon's mother went on, but he'd stopped paying attention. There was this pair outside. Across the road, chatting.

Simon won the lottery a year ago. Not the youngest to win the jackpot, but certainly counted himself lucky. 13.4 million. He bought a simple house near the pier, nice car, took a gap year, had 'several' parties, then settled down.

_That guy is soaking wet. What's with the weird coat. Doesn't do much to show his figure. Girlfriend looks tired._

"...Are you listening?", his mother said on the phone.

"Yeah, yeah. Just thinking."

"OK, well I'll call you back when you're not in another world. Bye."

"Bye Mum. I'll bring that toolbox round later."

Simon put his phone back in his pocket and when he looked back at the pair across the road, he saw the two people seemed to be staring at a spot down the path a little. They looked a little shocked by what they saw. Simon craned his neck to try and see behind the car at what they were staring at.

As soon as he saw the woman lying on the road, stomach bleeding all over herself, he ran out. By the time he got out to the road, she had disappeared.

"What the hell was that!" he said to no one in particular. He looked at the man who looked back at him.

"It's alright, nothing to worry about. Some after effects of the leak. You might see a couple more...."

"That was no bloody mindfuck! Look, theres still blood on the ground!" Simon shouted pointing at the red spot next to where the woman had been.

The man ran over and looked at it. "Still wet. What?" He took a vile and a cotton bud out of his inside pocket.

"Maybe you should just go back inside." It was the woman. She had this expression that said she was scared and confused, but was used to acting like she knew what was happening. "We'll take care of this."

"What are you talking about? You don't look like police? What just happened? Who the hell are you?"

The man stood up. He seemed more confident than before, of course he was just about to make a speech.

"We are talking about us taking care of this situation. No, we are much, much more than police. What's happening is that points of time are appearing randomly, specifically points that are connected to us, and we are Torchwood. Name's Captain Jack Harkness, this is Gwen Cooper. You're coming with us."

"Why's he coming back with us?" Gwen said looking at Jack.

"Yeah, good question." Simon said.

"Because that parking attendant across the road has been checking me out for the past 5 minutes, and he didn't see Tosh. No one else really reacted either, theres something special about you, and it's not your fantastic sideburns."

* * *

Woot. These two chapters really took a while. Not really sure what I'm gonna do with Simon quite yet.

Like i said in the last chapter, if you're on YouTube, Twitter or Dailybooth, just search JangoHarkness to find me. Please subscribe or follow!! 3


	9. Chapter 9: Giggle

Simon blushed. He couldn't help it, this guy's compliments just seemed to mean so much. He nearly smiled but stopped himself.

Jack noticed, and grinned. "So, whats your name?"

Simon glanced at Gwen and then back to Jack. "Simon. Simon Grey"

"Well, Simon Simon Grey, you've nothing to be scared of. We just want to you to come back to our HQ and maybe you can help us."

Simon thought for a moment. He wanted to. "Okay."

"Good to hear. Why don't you run back in and grab a coat or something."

Simon smiled at both of them and jogged back into his house. Gwen watched and then turned to Jack. "Why's he coming?"

"Like I said, obviously he's got some sort of connection to these events that he shares with us, and no one else around here. Plus, we need new staff"

"Him! He looks about 12! Whats he going to bring in, apart from a tight arse. I saw you looking."

'Well, if we're going to get some new recruits, why not get something all sweet, tight, and blond? Plus, look in the window. I had a quick stare."

Gwen looked over, she saw Simon running from room to room looking for anything he should bring. Then she saw the wall in the living room facing the window. There was something framed. She looked at Jack. He nodded. Looking back, she squinted, and could just about make a coat of arms at the top of the certificate.

"So, he's a mini-genius."

"Youngest PHD in Computer Science in the UK. I thought he looked familier from the news story. The name helped."

Gwen was watching the upstairs window again. Simon was typing on his iPhone, then glanced out the window and saw her. He smiled. Gwen couldn't help but smile back as he disappeard from the window, obviously on his way back.

She sighed, "Please for the love of God, let this one be straight." Jack chuckled. "I suppose you already know?"

Jack looked at her again. "Nope, not a clue. Should be fun finding out, and anyway, you don't have to be 100% straight to be interested in you."

"Married, Married, Married, Married." Gwen chanted, reminding herself more than anyone, as Jack laughed. Simon had just locked his front door, and was walking across the road, still typing on his iPhone.

"Sorry." he said as he finished and put the phone in his pocket, "Just had to tweet about this. Torchwood! O-M-G!"

Gwen let out an sigh again. "Oh Christ, he's gay and a fanboy."

Simon's smile flickered. "First of all, I'm guessing Gwen, being excited and saying 'OMG' doesn't mean gay. And secondly, yes, just a little bit. Don't know why the coat didn't set me off."

Jack just smiled. "Come on Gwen, doesn't it make sense that the greatest computer scientist in the UK, living in Cardiff, will probably have heard of us?"

Gwen looked at both of them, mouth open in shock. "I need another bloody woman in this job, you're all ganging up on me"

Jack opened his mouth to reply with a dirty comment, but was beaten to the mark as Simon said; "If only." He laughed at his own joke and turned to Jack. "We going to the Hub then?"

Jack joined Gwen in staring at Simon in shock. He giggled. "Brains, looks-I saw you glancing, both of you- and wit! What are you gonna do with me first?"

They were interupted however as Jack's comms went off. "What is it?...Aw, this just isn't gonna be an easy day."

* * *

Woo Hoo! New chapter :D Feels pretty good to finally get it done. Hope you all remember me :)

Anyways, just been a little busy the past few months. Today I could finally relax so took advantage of it. Hope I can get atleast 2 more done before college starts again in January.

If, however, you don't hear anything more from me before it, Merry Christmas and Happy 2011. See you soon :)

You can follow me on twitter, dailybooth, tumblr, and even flickr now (photography is part of the Media course I'm currently doing). The name is just JangoHarkness on everything :P


	10. Chapter 10: Past

Ianto returned from his call. "They're on their way, Jack and Gwen, with some kid who can help apparently." He gave Owen a bemused look. "Do you want a coffee, now you're dressed?"

He didn't even wait for an answer, and left to go make 5 mugs of his best.

"Ianto..."

Ianto froze, and he turned back round to face Owen, who was staring into his eyes.

"Where's Tosh?" He said, his expression almost changed to pleading, but Owen held strong. Ianto walked back to the balcony that over looked the Autopsy Room, and put his hands on the railing to hold himself up as he had to say these words to Owen.

"She died, shortly after you. Grey had shot her. She was talking to you as she died." Owen just looked down. Ianto turned and walked away.

* * *

"Nice kit." said Simon. He was crawling around on the backseats of the SUV as they headed back to the Hub, pushing buttons and poking at all the screens.

Jack glanced back as he came off Cogan Hill. "Sit down, put on your seat belt, or I will turn this very special car around."

Simon complied and sat quietly, passing his iPhone from left hand, to right hand, and back again. "Earlier on, back at the Pier, you said Tosh."

"I also said sideburns, what does it mean to you?"

Simon seemed quieter all of a sudden. Gwen turned in her seat to look at him.

"You don't mean Toshiko Sato, do you?"

Gwen had her sympathetic but questioning voice ready to go. "How do you know her?"

"I wrote one of my final essays on her. My professor made me take out the part about being arrested by a secret organisation and then being recruited by another, lest either should happen to me. Looks like it didn't do me any good." He chuckled nervously, looking out the window.

Gwen reached back and rested her hand on his knee, Simon looked back at her and smiled thankfully. "That woman that you saw back there, that was Tosh."

"I know it was a sudden situation, but didn't you recognise her?" Jack butted in.

"I only had old pictures, some snaps from her MOD days. To be honest she was the inspiration that got me into computer science. She was the youngest before me." He smiled at Gwen again. She smiled back, and then turned to face the front again.

The rest of the drive was silent.

* * *

Mwhahahaha, I have returned. I thought I had already uploaded this chapter, but I hadn't. So guess what? There's another chapter heading right to you next Wednesday. I'm gonna try and get more regular with this, so apologies for the very very long wait. The next chapter is nearly 3 times longer than this, so look forward to it. Talk soon :)

JangoHarkness


	11. Chapter 11: Cold Welcome

Gwen sighed as the ground rose above her. Jack had decided to show off and give Simon the grand entrance of trying to stay absolutely still and not accidently wobble off a very high and very narrow street slab.

"Jesus Christ!" Simon called out as they began their descent. "I'd heard some stuff about a perception filtration effect happening in this area, but; Jesus Christ!"

Despite his previous warnings to keep still, and the obviousness of his height and space, Simon spun round with his iPhone taking as many pictures as he could. By the time they reached the bottom and began walking up to the computer bank, he was tapping away on the screen again. He glanced up as Ianto met them.

"Hey, Ianto. Having a little trouble getting on your wi-fi." Simon said, only glancing at Ianto for a second between clicks.

"We don't have wi-fi." Ianto replied. He was confused. He didn't know what was going on. He hated when that happened. "We have a very special mobile network, unlike anything in the commercial industry." He regained some confidence as he reamed off some information he did know. "Steve Jobs has already killed for less than access to our network, so even if you could hack it, I'm pretty sure your iPho-"

"Got it!" Simon said grinning at Ianto. "Just wanted to twitpic some of these pictures."

Ianto didn't even take any steps. He turned his neck slightly and reached out an arm as he tapped at one of the nearby keyboards. "I wouldn't bother. All the pictures, deleted. I'll shut it down and lock it if I have to." Ianto replicated the grin back at Simon.

"Fine. Fair enough." Simon said sarcastically as if he cared he had lost.

Jack and Gwen had taken a seat on the sofa. Once Simon and Ianto had finished their sparring, Jack turned to Gwen and smiled. She grunted unhappily as she pulled out a fiver from her pocket and handed it to him.

Jack laughed as he grabbed it and jumped up. "Ha ha! I had faith in you Ianto and it paid off."

"Ahem," said a voice from the autopsy room.

Jack and Gwen's expressions dropped as they remembered their reason for returning so suddenly. Simon didn't notice and headed in.

"And you must be Dr Harper. Wow, you look like death."

Owen chuckled. "Have been for about a year give or take, and the last time I saw the guy himself, he didn't have my rosy cheeks."

Simon looked confused for the first time since he entered. "I don't get it."

Jack appeared behind him and put his hand on his shoulder. It's a long story and one I'm sure Owen doesn't want to go into right now with you. Nothing personal, but..."

"I haven t a bleedin' clue who you are." Owen said getting up. "Right now I don't care. Jack, with all due respect to our visitor, I'd like to talk."

Jack looked at him. He wasn't sure what to feel. "Fair enough. Gwen, give Simon here the tour. The Level 1 tour."

"Is that high or low?" Simon asked quickly, whipping his head round at Gwen.

"Low." Jack replied. "Ianto, check the rift levels with geographic scales to the pier and The Hub and I'll see everyone in the boardroom in 15 minutes."

* * *

The Level 1 tour pretty much covered all that was visible as you walked in. They spent some time in the hothouse, but Gwen didn't really know all of the lab stuff and Simon kept looking down at Jack's office. "Do you want a coffee? Maybe some tea?" Gwen asked Simon as they sat on the sofa.

"No I'm fine." Simon said. His smile faded in the silence, but came back when he was talking to someone. Gwen noticed. He was unsure or nervous of something, but didn't want to show it too much. "Why do people always say **a** coffee, and **some** tea?" He asked.

Ianto wasn't around, but Gwen was sure he would have the answer. He was off making coffee ahead of their upcoming meeting. She chuckled in response. It was probably all he wanted. Something to plug the silence.

Simon was staring at Jack's office again. She looked over and she could see Jack looking at Owen sitting in a chair. She couldn't see Owen himself, but she was able to work out what they were talking about. That day, that shitty day when they lost him and Tosh.

She looked back to Simon, who was staring at the water tower now. "Are you alright?" She asked. "Is this all going too fast?"

Simon turned to her and the nervous smile came back. "No, no, I'm fine. I just get the feeling it's not a great time." He replied. He paused looking again at Jack. He was kneeling now, looking Owen right in the eyes. "What happened?" Simon asked, turning back to Gwen.

Gwen sighed. He knew enough about the staff, and if Jack was really interested in bringing him in. She bit her lip, and turned round where she was sitting to face Simon fully. "All this crazy stuff that goes on in Cardiff, there's a reason. You know we're here and what we do, but do you know why?" Simon shook his head. Gwen took a big breath in and began. "There's a rift in time and space..."

Simon listened intently as she explained the rift, a brief recount of what happened to Owen before, and what happened on that day. He never interrupted, only listened. When Gwen was finished she had to blink back the tears. She hadn't had to actually talk about it since, after spending two days curled up in her bedroom, she told Rhys.

Simon looked away, and breathed out slowly. "That was a lot take in." He said jokingly and looked back at Gwen. She smiled, he smiled.

"Let's go" said Jack. Neither Gwen or Simon had realised he was behind them, but he hadn't been there for long. They stood up as Jack led the way to the conference room.

* * *

Thank you for putting up with these long breaks in between chapters. I'm not even gonna lie; the next one is gonna be a while away. So add me to your story alerts so you can find out when the next chapter is out. I've got a lot of college work piling up so it could be a couple of months :P


	12. Chapter 12: Grabbed

"Does that include me?" asked Simon.  
"Yeah, you're involved. Remember? I don't just bring every guy in tight jeans round here anymore." smiled Jack.  
"Ok, cool. First though, and this is really awkward what with it being a really cool situation, but could I take a quick trip to the loo?"

The restrooms were in the same direction as the boardroom so they walked down the corridor together. Gwen pointed the rest of the way before telling Simon how to meet up with them. After Simon walked off, Gwen and Jack walked alone.

"Nice kid." Jack smirked, thinking of how a little youth could help liven the team up.  
"Just what I was thinking kid." Gwen retorted. "He's 19. Whole life ahead of him, and you re going to bring him into this." She was calm but her disapproval came across.  
"He's one of the smartest computer scientists of this era."  
"But he's still so young. He should be able to see the world and live a life before getting stuck down here."  
"You re forgetting about that huge lottery win. He s been to more countries than we have. Well, than you have."  
"I still don t think it s right." Gwen pouted.  
"Part of me agrees with you, but we need this kid, and it seems like he wants to be here too."  
"That's just cause he hears the stories. Thinks it's all having a laugh, catching aliens, and going home at the end of the night."  
"He's a big boy. He can learn."  
Gwen fell silent as they had reached the door and it slid open to reveal the empty boardroom. Gwen sat down to think, while Jack assembled some information to show everyone. The stats were in from Ianto, so he studied them while Gwen texted Rhys. After a few minutes Jack looked up. Still just the two of them.

"Where is everyone?" He asked.  
Gwen looked up from her phone to see the empty room. "Dunno, how long has it been?"  
"Too long." Jack stated as he stood up and walked through the door into the dimly lit corridor. "Hello? Anyone around? We're supposed to be having a meeting. You know? Secret, small crew, organisations still have meetings."

Nothing. Pitch black. He turned back to look at Gwen, but she had gone too. The nice wood door installed last year was gone too, the old steel one was back.  
Jack ran out the central hub area. No one. Everything was active, the computers were still running, so he scanned for everyone's phones. Nothing for Ianto, and when he tried searching for Gwen the computer came up blank.  
Jack didn't know what to do. Where were they? Everyone had just disappeared. Simon. Jack ran even faster down to the restroom, throwing the door open.

"Oh, sorry, got lost in Facebook. This stupid iPhone just takes over my life sometimes."  
"Have you seen anyone else?" Jack asked, perplexed.  
"No, why? Is there a search party? I've only been... that's weird." Simon was looking back at his phone, reading the time.  
"What time is it?" Jack asked.  
"It says it s 8.46am. But that s impossible. It was nearly lunch time."  
Jack waved for Simon to follow. "Come on."

Jack was running, so Simon had no other chance but try and keep up. They headed back into the central area, Jack rushed to one of the stations and brought up the rift readings.  
"Not good." Jack stated.  
"What, what does it mean?"  
"There was a huge rift spike. Huge, 2nd biggest I've ever seen and it swept through the whole hub. Everyone else has been lifted. Gwen and Ianto are somewhere, anything could have happened to Owen, and we've been left here. We must have just sidestepped it or something, random luck."  
"So how do we get them back?" Simon asked.  
Jack was actually thrown by this question. "I don't know. There's only one thing I think could do it, and the last time we did that, a whole lot of bad stuff-"

He stopped mid-sentence as the large gear door rolled open. Simon looked to Jack who was slowly pulling out his gun. Finally it moved enough and a woman stepped out, staring up at the large water tower. She glanced round at the computer stations before making her way round to the steps. Jack could do nothing but stare, quickly putting away his gun again.

"Morning. Who s this then?" Suzie Costello asked with a confused glance at Simon. She looked back to Jack with an eyebrow raised.

Jack was flustered, and tried to come up with something as quick as possible; but before he could say anything Simon jumped in.

"Hi, I'm Simon. Aren't you Suz-?"  
"Ha, yeah." Jack shouted suddenly, "Long story, absolutely nothing to worry about. I was just about to escort him out with one of our little friends."

Suzie gave Jack a smirk and shook her head walking away. Jack grabbed Simon's arm and took him to the pavement lift; they started rising.

"I don t mean to be insensitive, especially since this isn't an issue for most people today; but isn't she supposed to be dead." Simon whispered.

"Yeah. Gwen, Ianto, and Owen aren't the ones who've been taken. We are."


End file.
